The Hammer Rises
by BetrayersFear
Summary: James Smith was born in South Africa, a frozen hellhole where only the strongest and meanest survive. Kidnapped at 12 and forced into working for NERV as an Eva pilot he has accepted his fate. Finally being sent to Japan just after his 14th birthday he meets the other pilots and staff members and changes their lives, better for some and worse for others.
1. Chapter 1

So I'm re-uploading my first ever fic in a hopefully much improved format, if you read the original this version first I apologise and second I hope you enjoy this one. As always please review just at least some element of constructiveness would be appreciated. I do believe that's all. Thank you and enjoy

* * *

James walked quietly besides Ritsuko Akagi, the doctor who had examined him upon his arrival.  
"Since you're here the commander wants us to run a test in your Eva so we'll get that out of the way and then you can meet the other children." Ritsuko said as they walked down yet another corridor.  
"I'm not a child." James growled angrily  
"I guess you're not but you are only 14 so you're going to have to get used to being called one." Ritsuko retorted calmly.  
James glared at her back for a few seconds before realising she was right and grimacing.  
A few minutes later James was being shown into a simple locker room where a black and red plug suit hung on the door of a locker with a set of written instructions about how to put it on next to it.  
Throwing the useless instructions over his shoulder James set about getting changed.  
Emerging only a few minutes later than he should have James found himself confronted by not one but two attractive females, Ritsuko was now accompanied by a purple-haired woman.  
They stopped their conversation as James stepped through the door.  
"Hello I'm Misato I'll be the person in charge of any operations you and the other ch-pilots will undertake." She greeted him with a slightly forced smile.  
James just nodded silently.  
"Let's get going Unit-05 is ready and waiting." Ritsuko said before setting off down the corridor again.  
"Mächtige Zuschlag." James spoke up from the back  
"What are you talking about?" Misato asked confused  
"My Eva, its name is Mächtige Zuschlag, Mighty Hammer." James explained.  
"Ah yes I forgot about that." Ritsuko said in a tone clearly indicating she thought it was stupid as they walked into the Eva hangars.  
"I can see why you called it Mighty Hammer." Misato murmured the photos she'd seen not really comparing to the real thing.  
Standing five metres taller than any of the other Eva's and much heavier set it was an intimidating sight, the armour plates covering its arms and legs clearly defined the massive bulges of muscle beneath them.  
"Right James I'm assuming you've been told about this and what you need to do." Ritsuko said patting the plug jutting out of Mächtige Zuschlag's back.  
James nodded again eager to get started.  
"Then get in and we'll start the test soon." Ritsuko said  
James jumped into the plug quickly, taking a few seconds to set himself correctly he nodded at the man waiting to close the hatch.

Ritsuko walked into the control room to find Asuka glaring at a monitor while Shinji peered curiously over her shoulder and Rei calmly looked out the viewing window at the massive black Eva.  
"Asuka, Shinji, Rei." Ritsuko said, ready for when Asuka spun on her heel.  
"Why the hell is his Eva different to every other one?" Asuka exploded  
"One: because your Eva are designed as Multi-purpose decisive weapons while his is designed as…basically a walking battering ram and two: it was designed and made by the German branch so no one here had control of how it was designed." Ritsuko said quickly not letting Asuka interrupt her.  
"So, what's he like?" Shinji asked once Asuka had returned to glaring at the new pilot waiting somewhat impatiently in his plug.  
"I don't know I've only known him 15 minutes longer than you have, you'll have to ask Kaji." Ritsuko said before ending the conversation by ordering the synch test to start.  
Asuka had turned around at the mention of Kaji but stayed quiet as all the monitors in the room lit up.  
After several minutes of confusing babble the three children heard the one thing they did understand.  
"Synch rate is…adequate." Maya said looking concernedly at her monitor  
"How adequate is adequate?" Asuka demanded. Ritsuko ignored her as she leant over Maya's shoulder to look at the monitor.  
"This may not even be enough but we'll just have to hope it is." Ritsuko said to no one in particular before standing up hitting the button that opened communication between her and James.  
"Ok James everything's set, try and move." Ritsuko said her gaze bouncing between the various monitors and Mächtige Zuschlag itself.  
James nodded slowly.  
The control room was silent except for the various beeps from several consoles as Mächtige Zuschlag's leg moved forward less than half a step.  
"Well that's better than nothing." Maya said quietly as Ritsuko talked to James  
"How does it feel James? Your synch rate is low but is there anything that feels wrong or uncomfortable?" She asked.  
"It feels, heavy." James said  
"His voice matches his face at least." Asuka said to no one but Shinji knew he had to respond.  
"What do you mean?" He asked  
"It's ugly." Asuka said with a toss of her hair.  
Shinji didn't think it sounded that bad but he couldn't disagree that he was ugly, the scars on his face standing out sharply, he was snapped out his thought as Mächtige Zuschlag took a huge step forward.  
James' chuckle filled the silent control room  
"Maybe a bit less force this time." Ritsuko said calmly.

James grinned in excitement as he moved the other leg up to finish the step, he could feel the power in the bio-mech. Taking another step he stumbled but managed to right himself with help from the wall.  
"Ok James that's enough for today" Ritsuko said popping his bubble of excitement  
"Shouldn't I practice more?" James asked hoping for more time  
"You can practice tomorrow after school." Ritsuko said  
"Fine." James grumbled slowly walking Mächtige Zuschlag back to the position it started in.

Emerging from the locker room James found himself facing two attractive females…and a boy.  
"Ah James this is Asuka and Shinji you'll be living with the three of us." Misato said  
"Hello." Shinji said  
"…Hi." James replied  
Misato destroyed the awkward silence by leading them all outside and into her car. The ride to her apartment was accompanied by a strained silence as no one else knew what to say and James wasn't interested in starting a conversation.  
Arriving the rest piled out leaving James to follow more slowly, entering the "messy" apartment James looked around with a sneer of distaste on his face.  
"I'm sorry I try to clean up but it just gets dirty again." Shinji said from a doorway leading into the kitchen  
"Don't apologise for something that isn't your fault." James said  
"Why not?" Shinji asked  
"Because then people will think it's your fault…where am I sleeping?" James asked  
"Oh I don't know you'll have to ask Misato." Shinji said  
James went looking for Misato without saying anything.  
He found her emerging from her room in shorts and shirt that covered significantly less than it should have.  
"What do you want James?" Misato asked  
"Where am I sleeping?" James asked after giving himself half a second to admire the body in front of him.  
"Oh uhh I hadn't thought of that. I guess you'll have to sleep in Shinji's room…I think I have a spare futon around here somewhere." Misato said scratching her head absentmindedly.  
"Ok…Where is Shinji's room?" James asked  
"Oh down the hallway it's one of the doors at the end." Misato said cheerily before moving past him and into the kitchen.  
Walking down the hallway James picked a door at random and opened it giving himself a very nice view of Asuka with her shirt over her face.  
James was still watching when she pulled it off and saw him, they stood still for a second as Asuka stared back in surprise before exploding  
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" She screamed before running forward and slamming her foot into his stomach.  
James grunted and as he was pushed back half a step.  
Asuka stared at him in surprise again before covering herself with her arms and glaring at him  
"Aren't you going to apologise?" She said  
"No." James replied  
"What? Why not?" Asuka asked angrily as she quickly grabbed a shirt and held it in front of her.  
"Because I'm not sorry." James replied with a lopsided grin.  
"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY ROOM!" Asuka yelled as she slammed the door shut.  
James chuckled to himself before opening the other door to find an empty room. Stepping into it he looked around before shrugging and setting himself up in a corner.  
Sitting up against a wall he let his mind wander to thoughts of home until they overwhelmed him and he stood up violently before getting into a push up position and working out until his mind was numb with exhaustion and his body couldn't keep itself awake.

Shinji opened the door to his room quietly, seeing James sleeping on the floor he took a cautious step inside. James was on his feet before Shinji could take a second one.  
"Oh, just you." James said rubbing his eyes before shaking his head and walking to where he'd decided to sleep.  
"I didn't mean to wake you up." Shinji said  
"Its fine, where I come from if you don't wake up fast you die fast." James said  
"Where are you from?" Shinji asked  
"You didn't get told? I was born and raised in South Africa." James said before yawning  
"South Africa? Isn't that…frozen?" Shinji asked trying to remember his geography lessons.  
"Yeah pretty much but I was in the greatest tribe in South Africa so we always had food and fire and shit like that." James said his tiredness making him more open than normal.  
"Tribe?" Shinji asked from his bed  
"Well yeah there wasn't enough anything to support even a town so everyone was either in a tribe or died very quickly." James said  
"And yours was the biggest?" Shinji asked his curiosity getting the better of him.  
"No we weren't the biggest we were the best but I'm tired and want to sleep now." James said as his brain finally comprehended what they were talking about. Shinji looked disappointed but rolled over and closed his eyes anyway.  
"Hey Shinji." James said from the floor.  
"Yeah?" Shinji said as he rolled over confused  
"Do you have a spare pillow or something? Germany made me soft." James said looking up from the bare floor he'd commandeered.  
"Uhh yeah but why are you on the floor?" Shinji asked as he got up to check his cupboard  
"Nowhere else to sleep." James said  
"Oh well here you go." Shinji said chucking a pillow to James.  
"Thanks." James said  
"Can I ask one more question?" Shinji asked once he'd gotten into his bed  
"If you must." James said  
"Your scars look like they were done on purpose." Shinji said  
"That's not a question but yes they were done on purpose but I'm not telling you what they're for yet." James said as he got comfortable.  
"Ok…Goodnight." Shinji said  
James just grunted


	2. Chapter 2

This chapter is significantly longer sorry if it's a bit too much of a read but hopefully it's entertaining enough. Thank you for liking my fic enough to try the second chapter :D...so this was written at the same time as chapter 1...I just forgot to put it up until now...my bad

* * *

Shinji woke up to find James hanging from the doorframe.  
"What are you doing?" Shinji murmured his freshly awoken mind unable to comprehend what he was seeing.  
"Chin-ups." James stated lifting his chin above his hands to demonstrate  
"Ok…why?" Shinji asked  
"Because there's nothing else I can do to exercise." James said as he kept going.  
"What about push-ups?" Shinji asked slowly getting out of bed  
"Done them." James said  
"How many?" Shinji asked  
"300" James said. Shinji blinked several time as he tried to comprehend that  
"Sit-ups?" He asked  
"450" James replied  
"Wow ok how many of those have you done so far?" Shinji asked.  
"299, 300 and done." James said as he finished and dropped to the ground.  
"How long have you been awake?" Shinji asked after he recovered from his shock long enough to keep getting ready for school  
"A few hours I dunno." James replied  
"Well you probably want to get ready for school now." Shinji said  
"About that…does school have an…exercise lesson or something like that?" James asked  
"There's P.E which is basically an exercise class." Shinji said  
"Good I need to run." James said  
"After all that you want to exercise more?" Shinji asked incredulous  
"Yeah." Was all James said as he began to stretch.  
Shinji didn't try and continue the conversation instead opting to take his overdue shower.

James took off his soaked shirt and used it wipe as much sweat of his torso as he could, catching a whiff of it when he wiped his face he coughed and held it out at arm's length to take a deep breath. He'd gotten used to the smell when he was younger but his two years in Germany had introduced him to the wonder of the shower and he'd lost his immunity.  
Wandering around the small apartment he managed to find his way to the kitchen with little effort.  
Poking around he found a loaf of bread and shrugging pulled out a couple slices and began eating.  
"You know you can put those in the toaster." A female voice said from the door  
"The what?" James asked turning to see Asuka leaning against the frame  
"Geez are you stupid? A toaster, you know metal box, plugs into the wall?" Asuka explained  
"Still don't know what you're talking about." James said turning back to his bread  
"Wow you are stupid." Asuka muttered  
"Probably." James replied without looking up.  
"What are you even doing here?" Asuka asked as she moved into the kitchen  
"Getting breakfast." James replied confused  
"Ughh no I mean why are you here in Japan, why do we suddenly need another pilot?" Asuka demanded  
"Maybe you and Shinji aren't good enough." James replied grabbing another slice  
"WHAT?! I've been training since childhood to get this good!" Asuka almost yelled  
"Cool, how long was every single day a fight to survive?" James replied casually  
"What do you mean?" Asuka asked glaring at James  
"Ever since I was six I've been training to fight, to kill, every single day I woke up with the sole purpose of becoming stronger, faster and better. I grew up in a place where only the toughest survive and I was on my way to becoming the best, so I'm going to assume I've been training more than you." James said angrily  
"…That doesn't mean you're better than me." Asuka said after a few seconds of shock  
"Whatever, I'm done." James said before leaving the kitchen and walking into Shinji's room to vent his anger on the floor.

Shinji walked into the kitchen to find Asuka glaring at him and eating a slice of toast.  
"Uhh Good morning." Shinji said cautiously  
"Why weren't you here in time to make breakfast?" Asuka asked still glaring  
"Oh uhh when I woke up James was already up so we talked for a bit and then I got lost in thought in the shower." Shinji said not wanting to enrage an already pissed off Asuka  
"Whatever just make sure you get up in time to make breakfast tomorrow." Asuka said  
"Where is James anyway?" Shinji asked as he dropped some bread into the toaster  
"I dunno, hopefully having a shower, he stunk." Asuka replied as she finished eating  
"Well I'll go find him, he won't know the way to school so he'll have to come with us." Shinji said  
"Whatever I'm going to my room." Asuka said leaving her plate on the kitchen table for Shinji to clean up.

James sat up against the wall with his hands over his knees and his right hand throbbing in a delayed reaction to the several direct impacts to the significantly harder than dirt and snow floor of Shinji's room.  
Hearing the door sliding open James dropped his hand into his lap.  
"Oh uh I thought I might find you here, I'm done in the shower obviously but I should tell you that you're school uniform is in the bathroom for some reason." Shinji said nervously trying not to look directly into James' intimidating glare.  
"Thanks." James grunted before standing up and walking past Shinji.

Exiting the bathroom with a roughly bandaged hand and in a significantly better mood James found Shinji waiting for him in the lounge.  
"Asuka already left but if we walk fast we can still make it on time." Shinji said  
"Ok…What do we even do at school? I've been told about it but none of it made sense to me." James asked as they made their way out of the apartment  
"Not much really, I mean we go to class and listen to a teacher talk to us for most of the day." Shinji said with a slight grimace  
"That uhh…sounds like massive waste of time." James said  
"I guess but what else can we do?" Shinji gasped out struggling to keep up with James' natural walking pace  
"Well I dunno for "normal" people but us three… four… should be practicing piloting, well I guess the three of you who have been here a while don't need to practice piloting but strategies, techniques, just conditioning in general." James explained  
"You seem excited about piloting the Eva." Shinji remarked  
"Well yeah there's so much power everything else just seems insignificant compared to the strength in its arms." James exclaimed  
"Is that why you pilot the Eva? Because it makes you feel powerful." Shinji asked  
"No I pilot because I have nothing else, the fact that I enjoy it is a bonus." James stated with a shrug  
"Oh." Shinji murmured  
"Why do you pilot?" James asked after a few seconds of silence.  
"Oh uhh when I do well I get praised and that makes me feel good." Shinji _  
"You pilot to get praised?" James' inquired with an incredulous look on his face.  
"…Yeah." Shinji murmured just loud enough for James to hear.  
"That's stupid." James said after a brief pause, Shinji looked up at him unexpectedly hurt by his comment.  
"How is it stupid? It makes me feel good and it doesn't take anything from whoever said it." Shinji said defensively before a spurt of anger burned through him as James threw back his head and laughed.  
"Just because someone says you're good does not make it true, someone could say I'm the best fighter in the world, doesn't make it true, someone could say I'm smart, doesn't make it true. Someone could say you're good at piloting Eva…doesn't make it true." James delivered casually after he'd recovered. Shinji stared at him both crushed and almost enraged by his words.  
"What makes you think you're right?! What great vision did you have that whatever you say is the right way? Why THE FUCK do you get to say how I should feel?!" Shinji almost screamed the last sentence as James continued to stare at him impassively, Shinji's breath slowed as he realised how close he was to getting into a fight with a boy well over twice his size with years of fighting experience. James shattered every expectation by chuckling and clapping him lightly on the shoulder  
"I did not mean to insult you Shinji, you are obviously a good pilot, if you weren't you'd be dead. What I meant was that even though I say those words you should not find any comfort or joy in them, you should find comfort that YOU know you are a good pilot, not what others say, know the truth of yourself and none can bring you down." James explained with a lopsided smile as he continued walking leaving a somewhat shell-shocked Shinji slowly following him. Recovering enough to run forward and catch up.  
"When did you come up with that?" Shinji asked after a few minutes of silence  
"Heh I didn't the Chief was always talking about it I just thought it was a good way to live your life… and that's what I've been trying to do." James meant to murmur the last bit soft enough that Shinji couldn't hear but a sudden lull in the background noise let the words enter Shinji's ears. Before Shinji could ask about it they came within sight of the school building and James was too busy studying it to hold a conversation.

Touji and Kensuke were noticeably wary of James as Shinji introduced them.  
"So where you from?" Touji asked too casually after introductions were done.  
"South Africa." James replied slowly.  
"Really? What's it like there?" Kensuke asked excitedly training his camera on James.  
"Bad." James said flatly. Any further conversation was cut off by the school bell ringing.

James suffered through getting introduced to the class in silence before taking his seat just behind Shinji.  
"Now that that's done we can continue with class. In the year 2000 there was an event which wiped out half of humanity, that event was called…" The teacher was interrupted by a spectacularly plain girl.  
"Teacher the worksheets remember?" She said with a clear edge of exasperation.  
"Oh yes, thank you." The teacher said after an apparent revelation  
"Oh come on Class Rep he was just getting started." Touji said with a laugh which was silenced when she sent a stern glance his way.  
"Please fill out these sheets as best you can. This is a Japan wide thing so don't think our school is just being silly." The Class Rep said as she handed out sheets of paper, when she placed one in front of James he leant forward to look at the indecipherable lines printed on it.  
"What's wrong James? Can't you read Japanese?" Asuka asked from next to him with a slight mocking superiority to her voice.  
"Can't read anything." James answered simply.  
"What? Like not at all?" Touji asked incredulously.  
"Never needed to." James said slowly sitting back as he noticed almost everyone looking at him.  
"So what can you do then?" Laughed a boy James didn't know.  
"I can fight." James answered immediately. The entire class tried to suppress a laugh with the boy and two of his friends laughing openly.  
"You gonna prove it to us?" Sneered the boy once he'd recovered.  
"If you want." James growled anger rising.  
"Both of you settle down. Ken fill out your sheet quietly, Shinji please help James with his." The Class Rep stood with arms crossed and the sternest look James had ever seen.  
"Fine Class Rep whatever." Ken said with a smirk as he turned back to his sheet.  
"Thank you Hikari." Shinji breathed with a sigh of relief. Hikari just smiled at him as she returned to her seat.  
"Right James this sheet is basically the government trying to get your opinion on who you are." Shinji said leaning back on his chair.  
"Ok." James said arms crossed still glaring at Ken.  
"Well the first question is what are you good at?" Shinji blushed slightly as he noticed several people still staring at him and James.  
"Fighting." James said with a shrug. A snicker from across the room brought an audible growl from James' throat.

After a tedious school day James just wanted to get out and back to NERV to practice in Mächtige again. Walking out the front gate his path to freedom was blocked by the three boys who had laughed at him that morning.  
"Move." James growled  
"What are you gonna do? Fight all three of us?" The leader laughed again.  
James took one step forward kicked him in the chest, stepping over the boy now struggling to breathe James swung a massive hook and caught one of the boys on the jaw knocking him to the ground, the last boy stared at him horrified. James smirked at him before picking him up by his shirt and headbutting him hard enough to shatter his nose.  
Leaning over the first boy James spat on the ground next to his head and said  
"Wasn't much of a fight."  
Straightening James walked away, the crowd of awed onlookers parting for him.

Arriving at NERV James found both Misato and Ritsuko waiting for him.  
"What the hell James?! First day of school and you've put three kids in hospital! We don't even know if the school will let you back." Misato exploded.  
"It would have happened eventually, mays as well get it out of the way." James said while engaging Misato in a stare down.  
"Dammit just don't do it again I have enough trouble as it is." Misato said with a sigh as she rubbed her temples.  
"If the report is accurate no one will get with three metres of him ever again." Ritsuko stated casually.  
"Did you really only hit each of them once?" Misato asked incredulously.  
"If you know where to hit someone you don't need to hit them more than once." James said with a shrug.  
"You're only fourteen…" Misato was interrupted by Ritsuko  
"James you came here to practice piloting didn't you? Go get changed and we'll get started." She said James was running before she finished.  
"Why'd you stop me?" Misato grumbled  
"Because I wasn't entirely comfortable with him walking just behind us." Ritsuko said calmly.

Sitting in the entry plug James waited impatiently for all the sciencey shit to be done with so he could feel the power of a god again.  
"Ok James we're ready, we have a surprise for you today." Ritsuko's calm voice came through the intercom.  
"What kind of surprise?" James asked suspiciously.  
"Wouldn't be a surprise if we told you would it?" Ritsuko said with the barest hint of a teasing tone. James just grunted in response.  
Feeling the synch start James grinned, as he synched and he could see through the eyes of his Eva he saw two large axes hanging in front of him.  
"Is this the surprise?" James asked his excitement betrayed by his grin and eager reaching.

Ritsuko watched silently as James grasped the axe handles and they were released from the roof.  
"Yes that's the surprise, Kaji told us what you used and we decided you would operate best with weapons you were comfortable with." Ritsuko replied as James flexed Mächtiges huge hands around the polymer wrapped steel.  
"You like them?" Ritsuko found herself saying suddenly  
"Yes, the weight is perfect, the balance is perfect, the curve is perfect, the grips feel a bit weird but better I think." James enthused as he inspected each axe.  
"Well, good." Ritsuko ended lamely not sure why she felt the need to speak at all.  
"Senpai, his synch rate increased." Maya spoke up suddenly  
"By how much?" Ritsuko questioned her  
"About five percent and holding steady." Maya replied  
"Hmm…James do you any different from normal?" Ritsuko asked the still grinning boy  
"I wanna try these out, preferably against actual opponents but even just room to swing would be nice." James replied slowly swinging the axes in small arcs in the limited confines of the testing chamber.  
"You'll get the chance soon enough just focus on moving around for now." Ritsuko said with a thoughtful expression on her face.  
"Yes ma'am." James replied beginning an hour long session of walking, stumbling, righting himself and walking again.

Arriving home in the best mood he'd been in for a while James even thanked Shinji for dinner before taking a shower and going to bed.


	3. Chapter 3

So chapter 3 finally, apologies for being slow (If anyone really cares) I'm taking a bit longer to actually finish the chapters now but that does mean a hopeful increase in quality so yeah read and enjoy.

* * *

James's eyes snapped open, he watched Shinji stumble slowly past him and through the door in relative silence compared to the dream James had been in. Rolling off his futon and onto his feet James followed him quietly, sticking his head around the door he saw Shinji yawn as he entered the bathroom. Suitably aware of his roommates movements James slipped back into the room and stood up straight. Realising he wouldn't be able to sleep again now that he was awake and not really wanting to return to his dream anyway James dropped down and began his morning routine.

Shinji walked in when James was about halfway through his push ups.  
"Are you exercising again?" Shinji asked slowly  
"Yes." James replied curtly  
"Why?" Shinji asked still standing in the doorway.  
"Because you woke me up." James growled in reply.  
"Oh I'm sorry." Shinji said hurrying past him to get back into bed.  
James grunted in response.

James was quiet as he got ready for school and ate breakfast, he didn't say a word on their walk to school as his naturally long fast stride took him far ahead of Shinji, his only response was a grunt whenever someone tried to speak to him during class, he spoke his seventh word of the day when Touji introduced him to basketball. Recovering from his foul mood and even more so in their P.E lesson James actually smiled when Shinji told him they were going to go to NERV again.

James arrived at NERV just after Asuka who hmphed and tossed her hair over her shoulder.  
Walking through the corridors and rooms James wanted to run ahead but had to stay with Shinji and Asuka as he didn't know the way. Before long they were intercepted by a blue-haired girl James hadn't met yet. She remained silent and didn't even glance at him, James shrugged and dismissed her.  
Eventually arriving at the control room they waited patiently, or at least two of them did, as Ritsuko watched a monitor for a few seconds. Turning to them Ritsuko looked at them with a completely blank expression.  
"We're getting another pilot they're doing a sync test now." She said blandly  
"WHAT!?" Asuka exploded, before she could draw breath to fully vent her rage Misato interrupted her.  
"This isn't an attack on your skill Asuka, it's simply the simple truth of the more the better, another pilot is another Eva and another Eva is what we need." Misato said her voice rising to counter Asuka's protests. Once Misato was done Asuka simply hmphed again and stared at the huge 3D display in front of them.  
"Now that that's sorted we're conducting this test outside so we figured this would be a good time for some practice in teamwork." Ritsuko said putting significant stress on the last word causing Asuka to hmph again and James to frown.  
They all filed out silently before hurrying to their respective change rooms.

Shinji couldn't help but stare as James took off his shirt to reveal a ripped upper torso as well as several scars the largest of which was a long jagged line down the right of his back.  
"Where'd you get that from?" Shinji asked before he thought about the question.  
"Huh? Oh was fighting a man and a friend of his came up behind me, I'm lucky he was completely idiotic and yelled just before he swung, gave me time to move." James said casually.  
"Oh." Shinji said lamely trying to wrap his head around how casual James was about his injury, it was then Shinji noticed James unwrapping the bandage around his right hand.  
"What about your hand? Did you hurt yourself punching that boy?" Shinji asked his confidence buoyed somewhat from James answering his earlier question  
"No." James grunted in a tone that had Shinji quiet until he was in his entry plug and answering Ritsuko's questions.

"Ok we'll start off with working in pairs, Asuka and Rei you'll go up first and then Shinji and James." Ritsuko said calmly. Asuka's grumbling about working with "The Doll" and James's grunt of dissent came through the communicators clearly causing Ritsuko to sigh in frustration.  
"Do you think we should tell them?" Misato asked from across the room.  
"And let them know who they're going to be killing? No, if they knew they wouldn't do it and I don't want to use…that." Ritsuko replied  
"James would." Misato said  
"If I can help it James won't be anywhere near this fight." Ritsuko said while watching Unit-00 and Unit-02 step out onto the surface  
"Why?" Misato asked genuinely confused  
"Because we need him to work with the other children not have them shun him as a maniac." Ritsuko replied exasperated  
"Is he really that bad?" Misato asked  
"Did you not watch the videos Kaji sent us?" Ritsuko asked turning to look at Misato in disbelief  
"…No" Misato said avoiding eye contact with Ritsuko. Ritsuko sighed and dropped the discussion leaving Misato wondering what she'd missed.

James sat still, forcing himself to remain quiet as he waited impatiently for his turn to access the surface, he longed to take more than two steps in either direction, he wanted to swing the might axes he'd been given, he just wanted to move. He took a slow deep breath before breaking his vigil and flexing his fingers around Mächtige Zuschlags controls. Deciding he'd give it a shot James opened his mouth to ask if he could go outside just to practice walking when he was assaulted by the voices of everyone in the control room spouting rapid fire Japanese that went right over his head. Quickly turning off the communicator James sighed and braced himself before turning it back on just in time to hear Misato yell  
"Shinji, Asuka and Rei need help, get up there."  
"What about me?" James asked angrily as Unit-01 moved past him  
"Not yet James, you'll get your chance one day." Misato replied in a strained voice  
"The fuck is that bullshit? I should get my chance now you stupid fucking-" James stopped when he realised he'd simply been muted.  
Throwing himself back into his seat angrily he muttered a few more choice insults before returning to his previous vigil in an attempt to calm down.

"I still think we should send him in now." Misato said to Ritsuko as they watched Unit-00 get thrown against a hill.  
"Not yet, we'll use the dummy plug before we send him in." Ritsuko retorted calmly but with a tightness to her voice that betrayed her frustration.  
"That's not your call to make Dr Akagi." Said a male voice from the back of the room.  
"I understand that Commander just in my professional opinion James isn't ready to pilot his Eva in a combat scenario." Ritsuko turned to face the voice as she spoke  
"Shinji was sent into a combat scenario with no piloting experience, if the first, second and third fail you will send in the fourth and only if he fails will we activate the dummy plug." Gendo said harshly allowing no argument.  
"Yes Commander." Ritsuko replied tightly.

James's eyes snapped open as Misato's voice came through the communicator  
"Ok James you're getting you're chance today, get topside and kill…destroy the black Eva currently engaging Unit-01." Misato almost spat the words  
"I thought the Eva were on our side." James replied ignoring the venom in her words as he took a lumbering step forward  
"This one has been…possessed by an Angel, it's no longer an Eva." Misato with slightly less poison lacing her words. James just nodded and grinned as he flexed Mächtige's fingers around the handles of his axes.

"Senpai his sync rate is climbing." Maya yelled out as James entered the Eva lift that would take him to the surface.  
"By only five percent again?" Ritsuko asked walking over to lean over Maya's shoulder to look at the screen.  
"No its still rising, 15 percent, 20 percent, holding steady at 70 percent." Maya struggled to keep up with the rapidly changing numbers  
"When did he get a sync rate of 70? I thought he could only get up to 45?" Misato burst out incredulously  
"I have some ideas." Misato said blandly as Mächtige Zuschlag arrived at the surface.

James grinned as the battlefield came into his view, flexing his fingers around the handles of his axes James took a massive step forward as he began to run. He could feel the massive thumps of his footsteps in the entry plug as he closed with the black Eva with its hand around Unit-01's throat. James didn't slow as he hit the enemy Eva, instead using his size and weight to throw it off of Shinji, sliding to a halt James turned on the ball of his foot and resumed his charge at the enemy which was hurriedly climbing to its feet.  
Stepping around the foundering Eva James spun and sent an axe deep into the shoulder of the enemy. He rolled as his forward momentum carried him past the enemy without time to stop himself, righting himself he charged forward second axe raised high, swinging it down hard he cleaved the enemy's head diagonally causing it to totter and then fall.  
Breathing heavily he grinned, it was the best fight he'd had since leaving South Africa, not that it was a good fight but at least he'd actually had to move.  
"James you need to destroy the core." Ritsuko's voice cut through his post battle high.  
"The what?" James snapped  
"The glowing red orb in its chest." Ritsuko said flatly. Looking down James saw the orb in question  
"Oh." He said before raising both axes high above his head before bring them down with all the strength in Mächtige Zuschlags arms, the curve of the orb caused both axes to bounce off to either side cutting straight through the armour and deep into the flesh of the Eva.  
"Gah dumbass fucking…thing." James swore as pulled one axe out and raised it with both hands, setting himself properly he positioned the axe directly above the center of the orb before bringing it down hard, the orb gave way with an audible crunch before the escaping energy blew the axe out of James's hands and the black Eva into multiple pieces. Righting himself after a particularly large chunk of Eva had almost taken his legs out from under him James blinked several times.  
"The fuck was that?" He asked surprised, annoyed and a little impressed at the force of the explosion  
"The core powers the Angel so when you break it all that energy suddenly has somewhere to go." Ritsuko replied calmly while almost everyone else in the control room had to look away as James wiped blood and gore of the frontal armour plates of his Eva.  
"Could've warned me." James muttered as he searched for both axes his adrenaline rush fading rapidly, finding each buried deep into separate hills he sighed before pulling them out.  
"Now what?" He asked not entirely sure what to do.  
"If you can, make sure Shinji is alright, if he is help him up and come back down, we have teams retrieving Asuka and Rei right now." Misato's icy voice came through the intercom.  
Wondering what he'd done to piss her off before deciding he didn't really care he walked over to Unit-01 and pulled it to its feet, it would have fallen over again if he hadn't caught it.  
"Hey, Shinji…Shinji…WAKE THE FUCK UP." James punctuated the last bit with a slap to the back of Unit-01's head.  
"I'm awake James." Shinji said through the intercom his voice clearly showing he was still shell-shocked from the fight.  
"Good, if you weren't listening they want us back." James said moving away now that Unit-01 was standing on its own.  
"What about Rei, and Asuka?" Shinji asked  
"They have people getting them." James said walking away.  
"Wait what about the Eva? What about the pilot?" Shinji yelled grabbing Mächtige's arm.  
James stopped walking.  
"Didn't know there was a pilot…they're dead now." He said slowly before shaking off Shinji's grip and walking back to the Eva hangar.

Shinji was met by Misato at the exit to the Eva hangars.  
"Hey Shinji there was nothing you could have…" Misato was cut off by Shinji  
"I don't care, I just want to know who the pilot was." Shinji snapped out  
"Well you're going to find out tomorrow anyway. It…It was your friend Touji." Misato looked up to look at Shinji's expression only for him to sprint past her.  
"SHINJI WAIT!" Misato yelled after him as she followed him.

James stepped out of the change rooms to find an infuriated Shinji sprinting towards him.  
"YOU BASTARD!" Shinji screamed as he raised a fist and swung hard at James's face. Deflecting and sidestepping the clumsy blow James adopted an angry and confused expression  
"What the fuck Shinji? If this is for accidentally killing the pilot I didn't fucking know and people die in war and I've been told that's what this is." James growled  
"He was my friend you piece of shit!" Shinji yelled his hands still curled into fists but his rage somewhat tempered by James's imposing figure.  
"Oh…Shit I'm sorry Shinji I didn't…" James's apology was cut off by Shinji  
"Don't fucking apologise to me you have no idea what it's…" Shinji was cut off in turn by James;s hand wrapping around his throat before he was slammed against a wall.  
"Don't you fucking dare. If you so much as start that sentence again I will tear you apart, no one, not Misato, not Ritsuko not fucking NERV itself will stop me from ripping your limbs off your pathetic body before snapping your scrawny neck." James's roared into Shinji's face his grip slowly tightening with each word until Shinji was going blue in the face and struggling to free himself.  
"James. Let him go." Misato's voice rang out from the end of the corridor her pistol pointed at James.  
Sneering James spat in her direction before throwing Shinji to the ground and walking away.

Stalking along the long corridors of NERV James didn't meet anybody until he was at the exit where Ritsuko was waiting for him. Sighing she stood up from where she was leaning against a wall.  
"Did you really have to almost kill Shinji?" She asked looking straight at him  
"He started it." James said dropping his gaze and scuffing his foot under a gaze that reminded him a little too much of his mother.  
"Well its happened now. For obvious reasons you'll no longer be staying with Misato. Instead you'll be moving into an apartment next to Rei." Ritsuko said as three men in suits walked up to stand behind James.  
"If you'll come with us." One of the men said in a tone that brooked no argument.  
James still sneered at him as they escorted him to a waiting car.

As he stepped out the car James couldn't help but notice the three men surround him again.  
"If you'll follow us." One of the men said in the same tone used earlier.  
James growled softly and refused to move. One of the men grabbed his arm causing James to spin around and slug him in the gut hard enough to send him to the ground. James swept around in a low spin with his leg out to trip up the man in front of him before rising in the same spin to kick the third man in the head. Standing over the man he'd tripped James waited until he'd gotten to his knees before grabbing his head and slamming his knee into his face. Sneering at him James failed to notice the man he'd punched stand up and rush him, falling to the ground James struggled to spin around to trade blows with the man now sitting on him.  
Standing up with a bruised face and bloodied fists James stood over the three prone men before spitting on the ground and leaving to find his new home.


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry about the short as hell chapter...and the long break...haven't really been in the mood to write lately and I forgot exactly where I was going with this particular chapter and it didn't end up as long as I wanted but hopefully the quality makes up for that. Should be more action in the next chapter. Other than that thank you for reading this far and I hope you enjoy. :)

* * *

James watched as Misato silently opened the heavy door to his tiny apartment.

"Misato." He said casually sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of his bed in one smooth motion as she turned to close the door.  
Misato couldn't help jumping as James's voice suddenly spoke up from behind her.  
"You can call me Major Katsuragi." She snapped at him.  
"Heh, what is your business here Major?" James said as he stood up to face her.  
"You won't be going to school today, or tomorrow, or ever." Misato said staring him in the eye.  
"Good." James said staring right back.  
Breaking eye contact first Misato nodded before turning stiffly and leaving quickly.  
James watched her go, the 14 year old admiring the curve of her ass while the warrior watched for any aggressive actions. Once she'd left he sighed as he relaxed, his shoulders slumping he stretched quickly before started his morning routine.

Shinji watched Misato walk back to her car.  
"Guess James didn't argue with her." Shinji murmured mainly to himself.  
"No shit idiot." Asuka said from the front seat.  
Shinji just frowned at her back as Misato got into the car.  
"The Fourth Child is not coming?" Rei asked from the back seat.  
"No." Misato snapped the only word she'd speak for the rest of the trip to the school.

James returned from his second run of the day to find Rei waiting for him.  
"We've been called into NERV." She said calmly before turning to start her walk.  
James grunted at her back before sprinting up the stairs to shower and change.

James arrived just ahead of Rei after he decided to jog there rather than walk.  
Bouncing on his toes he shadow boxed as he waited for someone to tell him where to go.  
Eventually Ritsuko walked calmly out of an elevator before walking off with only a simple gesture for him to follow her. Quickly catching up James did his best to memorise the route they took before giving up when they turned their 50th corner.

Arriving at the control room Ritsuko immediately walked off to talk to a brunette girl wearing the standard NERV uniform.  
Standing silently James looked around as he waited wondering if what he was meant to do.  
Hearing a noise from behind him he turned quickly to see Shinji walk through the door followed by Asuka and Rei.  
With a short grunt James turned back to find Misato standing with arms crossed.  
"So we had a bit of an…incident yesterday and I'm not talking about the Eva getting possessed." Misato said slowly looking pointedly at James.  
"If this is about it managing to beat me I should have had sup…"  
"This isn't about you Asuka." Ritsuko said sharply from the sidelines.  
Quieting down Asuka frowned as Misato continued.  
"As you know we face enemies more powerful than anything other than the Eva and even then you four need to work together or you will fail and if you fail we will all die." Misato paused her speech to look around at the four pilots, one of them frowning in annoyance, one of them staring at a spot just in front of her feet, one completely straight faced, and one of them scratching his balls.  
"Now do you understand me? Asuka?" Misato asked  
"Yeah." Asuka said after a short pause  
"Rei?" Misato shifted the focus of the question and gaze  
"Yes Major Katsuragi." Rei said calmly  
"Shinji?" Misato asked  
"Yes Misato." Shinji said softly.  
"James?" Misato asked darkly daring him to say something different.  
"Heh, just tell me who to kill Major and I'll do what it takes." James said with an arrogant smirk causing Misato to bristly in anger before Ritsuko stepped in.  
"Now that that's done, Shinji, Asuka and Rei you're going home while James you're staying here to try and raise your sync rate above barely adequate." She said firmly before walking away.  
James waited until everyone left before realising they expected him to find his own way to the locker rooms.  
"Uhh…I don't know where to go." He said lamely.  
Ritsuko turned toward him with a sigh before leading the way.


End file.
